Refill Pilot Varsity?

[cirano]

I stumbled on this site/thread while searching for vendors for the pilot varsity after reading an article on refilling it. I bought one of these and I'm surprised at how smooth they are. I've been a parker vector fountain guy for several years now and didn't look beyond it until now (too messy during the summer, the temp variations here wreak havoc on fountain pens and I was curious to see if the disposables were any better - i.e., have a better "seal" )

 

For those of you who wish to use a Non-Destructive method of filling a pilot varsity, you may want to checkout this slightly complex method.

Edited March 18, 2008 by cirano

[ginigin]

I stumbled on this site/thread while searching for vendors for the pilot varsity after reading an article on refilling it. I bought one of these and I'm surprised at how smooth they are. I've been a parker vector fountain guy for several years now and didn't look beyond it until now (too messy during the summer, the temp variations here wreak havoc on fountain pens and I was curious to see if the disposables were any better - i.e., have a better "seal" )

 

For those of you who wish to use a Non-Destructive method of filling a pilot varsity, you may want to checkout this slightly complex method.

 

The link didn't work, so I did some link hopping and found this one that shows the mad scientist approach:

 

http://www.jossresearch.org/tjiirrs/018.html

 

 

[superbleu]

The vacuum method works very well for the pilot varsity pen, I also used this method to refill a uniball vision roller ball pen and that worked fine.

 

You could probably use the seal a meal vacuum packers with the jar attachment to do this instead of building your own frankenpenfillingcontraption vacuum pump

 

edit.....

The link didn't work, so I did some link hopping and found this one that shows the mad scientist approach:

 

http://www.jossresearch.org/tjiirrs/018.html

 

[dmc]

Any of yall know if the Varsity nib will fit a Pilot Night fountain pen?

 

I need to replace the nib and I can"t seem to find any that are designated to fit the Knight.

 

The outside diameter of the Knight measures .233.

 

Thanks

[mishugina09]

I love the Varsity. I got a 4 pack my freshman year of college, and still have all 4 some 6 plus years later. I refill 2 of them and use them for school. The other 2 are empty and to allow me to learn how to repair nibs/grind them change them into something different. for 3 bucks if I screw up, which I probably will the first time I am not going to walk around kicking my own ass for a year.

[ladybleu]

After reading many posts here on pens and papers, I took the plunge last night and went to my local Staple and purchased an armload of eco-friendly notebooks and a blister pack of 3 Pilot Varsity pens.

 

I have to say, though I haven't yet written with an expensive FP, that these write beautifully and I love them!

There is a huge difference in writing on normal office paper vs. the eco- notebooks so I'm hooked on those as well. Thank you everyone for being such a fantastic resource for information - you've helped me spend my money wisely in starting the journey as a FP fan.

 

Looking forward to getting the right ink to refill my Varsity.....

 

......now where do I get a syringe to refill with?

lol - thanks again!

~L

[Chthulhu]

After reading many posts here on pens and papers, I took the plunge last night and went to my local Staple and purchased an armload of eco-friendly notebooks and a blister pack of 3 Pilot Varsity pens.

 

I have to say, though I haven't yet written with an expensive FP, that these write beautifully and I love them!

There is a huge difference in writing on normal office paper vs. the eco- notebooks so I'm hooked on those as well. Thank you everyone for being such a fantastic resource for information - you've helped me spend my money wisely in starting the journey as a FP fan.

 

Looking forward to getting the right ink to refill my Varsity.....

 

......now where do I get a syringe to refill with?

lol - thanks again!

~L

 

Welcome to our world. <G>

 

When you get to the refill stage, you'll find that an eyedropper will work just fine; you can even pipette the ink with a plastic straw with a little practice. :-)

[EvanSei]

the method of filling from the back will not work with the new models of the Varsity pilot must have changed the design to prevent this. I have one in front of me right now and I can clearly see the back end of the pen is not solid there is now a 3-4mm hole going all the way through the rear cap, unless you can plug this hole, or you always have the pen nib down, you can no longer fill the varsity from the rear.

[NinaP]

Hi

 

I have tried many ways to refill my V pen but I found the easiest(and so far the least messy way to do it) was to use the method below. I'd like to be able to credit for this idea but unfortunately it isn't mine:

 

"My method of filling the V pen is to place the empty pen upside down in a cup of boiling water for 30 seconds to heat the air in the pen. Then quickly dive the pen nib into the ink and leave for 2 minutes of cooling time. The pen will fill about 1/3 Repeat this step twice more and the pen will be about 3/4 full. Good enough for further use. Clean up spillage with water and paper towel"

 

You can find the original thing here:

 

http://goodpens.blogspot.com/2009/02/refilling-your-pilot-varsity-disposible.html

 

just scroll down to the bottom and it's in the comments section.

 

I found that like the guy said you can't fill the pen all the way up but it got pretty close and I am happy with that (for now - still trying to find a refillable pen that writes like the Pilot V Pen). I also found that if you have the newer pen that has a hole in the end cap it is best to remove the end cap first (which I did with my teeth but I'm sure you could do it with another implement!).

 

hope this helps

[ZeissIkon]

still trying to find a refillable pen that writes like the Pilot V Pen

 

Has anyone tried taking the nib or nib and feed from a Varsity/V-pen and mounting them in the section of an inexpensive Chinese refillable pen? Could be your solution...

[savingbirds]

Don't mess with a pen that is not yours...

[PDW]

I haven't tried this myself but can anyone comment on what one might call the shove-it-down-the-throat method shown at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEdJyrSEsMc?

[Haumea]

I filled mine with baystate blue. nice, as I don't want it to stain my converters. I didn't realize this was possible.

[Easy Writer]

I don't know exactly how everybody who has refilled these disposable pens did it, but if you don't want to mess with drilling out the end or popping the nib out which I would think would eventually wear out and start leaking or mess the nib up unless done gently with a rag or something? Anyway, I love the way they write and if one gets lost I won't have a coronary! So after analyzing the pen and noticing what appears to be the point where the ink was filled at the factory, I decided to make it easy and fill it where the factory does, so here goes. Make sure your pen is empty before refilling it, if it's not completely empty then I would suggest turning the pen nib up and wiping any residual ink from the nib, let it sit in this position for about 5 or 10 minutes before introducing the new ink into the ink chamber, that way only air will escape through the nib and not residual ink with the air! Now take a 1.0 cc tuberculin syringe with a 27 1/2 gauge needle (stock needle the syringes came with) and fill it with your favorite ink (I used Parker brand QUINK in black which happens to be my favorite black ink currently). Next pop the black/colored cap off the back of the pen (not the nib). Then take the 1.0 cc tuberculin syringe filled with ink and gently push the needle through the center point of the end plug inside the back of the pen (the small tuberculin syringe plastic barrel is small enough to actually fit inside the barrel of the Pilot Varsity pen which is necessary as the length of the needle is only about 7/16ths of an inch in length), it appears upon closer inspection to be the original fill point at the factory? DO NOT START PUSHING THE PLUNGER ON THE SYRINGE YET, I'll explain shortly. Now turn the fountain pen with the syringe in it so the NIB is pointing upwards. Now slowly push the plunger and fill the ink chamber of the fountain pen, use the window to check your progress, don't overfill or it will come out of the nib and make a mess! If you try filling it with the nib pointing down or sideways the air inside the ink chamber is unable to escape and will result in ink coming out with the air around the nib since this is the largest opening for the air to escape, thus making a mess! Once you do this a few times you will be able to insert the needle of the ink filled syringe into the fountain pen with the nib up already. Once the ink chamber is filled to your liking simply withdraw the syringe and put the end cap back on the pen. Voila! your pen is reborn and ready to write again! Happy Writing!

Edited October 8, 2011 by Easy Writer

[Sasha Royale]

I bought a dozen for $13.95, shipping included.

That's $1.17 each. Refilling is going to take

a lot of work. There is risk of leakage.

3cc of my ink will cost $0.80 to use. I'm likely

to make a mess. I have eighty good fountain pens

that can be refilled easily. This is silly !

 

Of course, I'm still going to do it. :ltcapd:

 

:roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho:

[pokermind]

I just dug up this link for the nib removal method for another topic, and realized it's applicabilty here. BTW I read here on FPN that this method also works for the Bic disposable FPs (which I've come to favor over the Varsity).

[32t]

I have been having fun with my varsity pens. I love to see how things work and have a hard time throwing anything away. A good example I am the only person I know that has taken apart a toy from a Happy Meal to fix it with my kids. I had to make a triangular screwdriver from a nail but had lots of fun. But I digress.

 

While thinking about how to refill a Varsity this is what I came up with. I haven't seen the same thing and have been known to reinvent the wheel but thought I would share my experiment here.

 

While thinking about the syringe method using a syringe and "shoving it down the throat." Where in the heck am I going to get a syringe of the right size? I found some tubing that slid firmly over the body of the pen.I cut off about a 3 inch piece which was plenty long but I needed room for my fingers as you will see. I then took a 5/16 inch diameter bolt and cut the threads off not to hold excess ink and shoved it in the end. a rod would work fine but it is what I had handy and the price was right. I then held the bolt in place with a hose clamp that was probably unnecessary but again I had it handy and better safe than sorry. Standing this contraption on the bolt head I then filled it about halfway with ink and then inserted the pen in the other end. After flipping everything over so the pen is on the bottom I squeezed the tubing like a sac. When the bubbles stopped I then released my pressure. I did this a few times and could see the ink fill the window in the side. Flipping the works over again I took it apart and cleaned everything up.

 

I have been happy with the results. The attached pictures should give you an idea of what I did.

 

Tim

[jbb]

I've got a few empty Pilot Varsitys if someone wants to pay shipping and refill them.

Edited June 22, 2012 by jbb

[mhpr262]

Just popped in to say that refilling works just as easily and well as ever. I refilled mine a coupe of days ago. I just wrapped a small piece of relatively thick, soft leather around the base of the nib, gripped the nib there with a pair of needle-nosed pliers and pushed the tip of the pliers outwards with the thumb of the hand I was holding the pen with. And out it popped.

 

Refilled it with Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue and pressed the section back it. It is still totally tight and writes better than before, as it wrote too wetly for my taste with the factory ink. I didn't even bother to flush it before refilling, no problems at all so far. It also seems to me the nib has been markedly improved by writing in over time, so it would have been a shame to throw it away.

 

Before I tried pulling out the section I had been thinking about drilling a very small hole in the side of the barrel right above the section, then squirting ink into the pen with a syringe while holding the pen upside down and then sealing the hole again, with adhesive tape or some glue. But pulling out the nib and section worked so well I don't seen any need for that.

 

Now what am I going to do with the five other V-pens I bought along with the first one ...